5th Annual Las Vegas ICMAC - August 4, 2012

Dear Friends,

It's hard to believe that August 4, 2012 will be the 5th Edition of the Las Vegas Chinese Martial Arts Championship. This tournament has very special meanings and will always be an important part of the ICMAC Worldwide Circuit.

In the early stages of developing the ICMAC Circuit, this was the first tournament outside of Florida where many of the concepts and procedures that distinguish ICMAC where tested and successfully implemented.

We are happy to be back once again at the Tuscany Suites and Casino where we have secured a rate of $75.00 per night for Single or Double Occupancy; these rooms are very spacious and have been recently renovated.

We want to thank everyone that has supported us over the years; we could not have done it without you.

Come and help us celebrate the 5th Anniversary of ICMAC Las Vegas.

Sincerely,

Master Tony Yang and Nick Scrima

Report: 2011 4th Annual Las Vegas ICMAC Tournament

The 4th Annual Las Vegas Chinese Martial Arts Championship was held on August 13, 2011 at Tuscany Suites and Casino and Fabulous Las Vegas.

This year's Special Guests included: Lily Lau, Jason Tsou, Kurt Wong, Dr. Daniel Weng, Zengjiao Jian, Robert Jones, Shi Xing Wei, Steve Cooper, James Chen, Xu Xiaoda, Steven Baugh, Jinheng Li, Andrew Ho and Stanley Jue. 

We want to recognize this year's Judging Panel and list them here in alphabetical order: Shelton Bailey, Lance Brazil, Nicholas Ellis, Jing-Jing Evans, Alex Forare, David Gowdy, Guan Da He, Jamie Hooper, Ya Mei Jin, Shane Kachur, Kevin Kawada, Eric Kohatsu, Shi Kun, Jonathan Liljeblad, Howard Lin, Franco Lung, Paul Madoff, Chris Mendoza, Jonathan Miller, Arthur Schonfeld, Chang Jun Shao, Mike Smith, Joe Sun, Bradley Temple, Lorrie Then, Phunsak Thiennvieboon,Tony Timmer, Zhang Mao Tsang. Alex Wang, Jan-Yu Weng, She-Peng Weng, James Willis, Aaron Wong, Stanley Wong, Hua Yin Zhu

Hundreds of competitors came from Colorado, Arizona, California, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Utah, and as far away as Canada and Alaska to take part in the championship. It's great to see that the ICMAC Worldwide Circuit is brining people together from so far away; we deeply appreciate their support.

We want to express our gratitude to all the Sifus who could not make the event but send competitors to the tournament, they are: David Chang, Eddie Chong, Robert Franklin, Richard Garrison, Fong Ha, Kenneth Hui, Alexander Knight, Tim Hartmann, Hao Quan Jiang, Johnny Lee, Mike Nedderman, Dino Salvatera, Derric Samuels, Evan Thompson, Eddie Torres, Aric Wiseman, Tat-Mau Wong, Derrick Wright, Xiaoping Wu, Henry Poo Yee and Henry Yeh.

Special thanks go out to Sifu Steven Baugh and the Las Vegas Lohan School for their amazing Lion Dance performance and all the help and support with the body of volunteers.

We look forward to welcoming all our old friends and meeting new ones at next year's 5th Annual championship which will be help on the August 3, 2012.

Friendship through Martial Arts®

Nick Scrima <

Report: 2010 3rd Annual Las Vegas ICMAC Tournament

The 3rd Annual Las Vegas Chinese Martial Arts Championship was held over the Labor Day Weekend at the Tuscany Suites and Casino on September 3-5, 2010.

The tournament is now well established in the ICMAC Worldwide Circuit and is becoming one of the events that both competitors and officials look forward to each year.

The tournament was once again co-hosted by Master Tony Yang and Nick Scrima         and featured many illustrious dignitaries and special guests. Leading these was Grandmaster Lily Lau who brought students from San Francisco and also had students and teachers support the event from as far away as Chicago. Dr. Daniel Weng, Nick Gracenin, Ma Long, Zhang Wei Fu his son Zhang Mao Tsang, and Liu Gang made the trip from China, Lee Ching-Han traveled from El Salvador and Antonio Langiano brought a team to compete in Shuai Jiao from Italy. Grandmaster Fu Ng, Benson Lee and Jason Tsou traveled from California. Steven Baugh and Shi Xing Wei were among our local dignitaries.

Robert Jones and Doug McLeod were also among our VIPs and had special interest in overseeing the event since next year, with the backing of the legendary Al Tracy, Chinese Kenpo will become more prominent in the ICMAC Circuit. When asked about the event Doug McLoud said, “it’s the best tournament I have ever been to.” This is saying a lot coming from a martial artist with his vast experience.

The competition started promptly at 10 am on Saturday and ended in the late afternoon to prepare for the Masters Demonstration; the timeliness of the schedule and the organization are now hallmarks of the circuit. The competition resumed on Sunday morning and finished by 2 in the afternoon.

More than 350 competitors attended this year’s event but there was an evident drop in the kids divisions. Labor Day Weekend was a likely cause; many teachers noted that they had youngsters who could not attend because they had just started school. This has been duly noted and the tournament for 2011 has been scheduled for the weekend of August 12-14.

Left to Right: Nick Scrima, Lily Lau, Tony Yang and Zhang Weifu

We want to express our gratitude to all the volunteers and judges who worked tirelessly to make the event a success. We especially want to recognize the following judges, listed in alphabetical order: Eric Brooks, Robert Burke, Alvin Cardona, Erick Cintron from Puerto Rico, Guillermo Morris Cruz, Pat DiBattista, Nick Ellis, David Gowdy, Frank Gutierrez, David Harmon, Guan Da He, Zengjiao Jian, Shane Kachur from Canada, Kevin Kawada who always brings a strong local contingent, Kieun Kim, Eric Kohatsu, Alex Lee who brought a strong team from Mexico, Jonathan Liljeblad, Howard Lin, Franco Lung, Christopher Mendoza, Kenny and Dina Perez who brought a large team from Arizona, Joel Rodriguez, Dan Schmidt, Art Schonfeld, Kun Shi, Eric Smith who brought a large team from Arizona, Scott Snelling, Roger Sultzman, Kochiu Sun, Phunsak Thiennvieboon, David Webster, Xu Xiaoda, Mark Weber, Jan-Yu Weng who ran the Shuai Jiao ring, She-Peng Weng, Aaron Wong, and Feng Yu.

Competitors came from Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, and several other states to support the event. Among the top competitors were Jonathan Wang, Garett Lubecki, Ron Berle, Dylan Foote, Sarah Perry, and Alex Mederos.

Other sifus in attendance or who sent teams to the competition included Travis Alschbach, Joseph D’Arezzo, Glenn Bullock, Joseph Byrne, Fong Ha, David Henderson, Happy Hsu, Eduardo Marin, Steve Martin, Gary Renza, Clark Silva, An Tianrong, Yamel Torres, Shi Cun Wu, Shi Yan Xu, Henry Yeh and Ru Zhu.

Friendship through Martial Arts®

Nick Scrima < >